How To Check Your Keyword Rankings For Free With Google Search Console

Knowing wherever you basal successful integrated hunt results is evidently thing you privation to bash if you privation to instrumentality your SEO seriously. And if you’ve conscionable started, past you mightiness beryllium wondering however you tin cheque your keyword rankings for free.

Well, you person travel to the close place. This is simply a usher to however to cheque your rankings for escaped utilizing Google Search Console. Plus, I screen the basics of keyword ranking investigation truthful you cognize what to bash with your data. 

How to Create A Google Search Console Account

Keeping a adjacent oculus connected your keyword rankings is thing you must bash regularly. It’s however you cognize if your SEO strategy is moving (or not working). 

Google Search Console (GSC) is simply a escaped tool, provided by Google, that tin assistance you with this. 

1. Visit the Google Search Console sign-up page. You request a Google relationship to start.
2. Once you person logged into your Google Account, prime spot type. You tin take either Domain oregon URL Prefix. I urge utilizing the URL prefix arsenic this gives you much verification options.
3. If you proceed with the URL prefix, you tin take betwixt 4 verification options: HTML Verification File, HTML Tag, Google Analytics, oregon Google Tag Manager.

How to Verify Using an HTML Verification File

1. Check if you person entree to your server to upload the HTML Verification File, either via FTP/SFTP clients oregon a cPanel File Manager.
2. If you do, proceed with downloading the verification record provided by Google Search Console.
3. If uploading the record via SFTP, link to your website via FTP/SFTP. Depending connected your server, determination are antithetic ways to bash this.
4. Once connected, upload your record to the basal folder of your tract (generally, this folder is what contains your wp-content folder, wp-config.php, etc.)
5. Once it is successful the site’s basal folder, instrumentality to Google Search Console. If it is decently installed, past the spot should beryllium verified and you volition beryllium brought to your Google Search Console dashboard. 

How to Verify Using an HTML Tag

1. Copy the provided HTML tag successful the verification option. 
2. Install the HTML tag successful the planetary header of your website. You tin bash this utilizing a Headers and Footers plugin if you’re utilizing WordPress. 
3. Save the changes you made to your website’s header.
4. Go backmost to the spot — if the HTML tag was decently installed, past the relationship should beryllium verified. 

How to Verify Using Google Analytics

1. If you person a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) relationship and asynchronous tracking codification installed connected your site, you tin usage this option. 
2. Select Google Analytics successful the verification methods.
3. A Google Analytics relationship verification surface volition appear, click verify.
4. If your Google Analytics codification is read, past the relationship volition beryllium verified. 

How to Verify Using Google Tag Manager

Similar to utilizing a Google Analytics verification method, if your website has a Google Tag Manager relationship and asynchronous tracking codification installed, past you tin usage this option. Simply travel the aforesaid instructions, conscionable nether the Google Tag Manager verification option. 

How to Check Rankings for Free connected Google Search Console

Once you person your relationship verified, you tin commencement looking astatine your website’s hunt performance. However, if your website is reasonably new, past you mightiness request to hold a fewer days oregon weeks until you person capable information to analyze. 

When you person capable to enactment with, you tin commencement checking your keyword rankings for free. Here’s how:

1. Log successful to your Google Search Console relationship and prime the website you privation to check. Remember to verify your website archetypal to bash this. Once you’ve selected the website, you volition spot the Overview dashboard, which volition amusement the website’s performance, indexing, experience, and enhancements metrics. 
2. To cheque your keyword rankings, click connected the Performance report. This is wherever you volition find indispensable information points similar clicks, impressions, CTR, and mean position. The Average Position information volition amusement you however precocious oregon debased your pages are successful the hunt results.
3. To cheque however your website ranks implicit time, usage the day scope selector successful the upper-right corner. You tin besides usage this to comparison antithetic clip periods. This volition assistance you spot if your website is doing amended oregon worse for definite keywords — and assistance find the leafage that needs immoderate other work.

Regular monitoring of keyword rankings done Google Search Console is simply a escaped and casual mode to cheque connected the show of your SEO strategy. 

I highly urge utilizing this instrumentality to cod arsenic overmuch information arsenic you tin and cheque it each month, if not each week. Doing this is thing I bash often to marque informed decisions to refine my content, heighten rankings, and yet thrust much integrated traffic. 

Webmaster’s Note: This station is portion of our precocious guides to Keyword Research and Optimization, and Content Strategy, where I screen everything you request to cognize astir picking the close keywords for your website, and ranking for them successful Google. I besides screen strategies for winning featured snippets, improving topical authority, however to people long-tail keywords, and much successful this series.

How To Read Google Search Console Data

Starting a Google Search Console (GSC) relationship is lone the archetypal step; you need to cognize however to work the information it’s collecting. 

Here’s a speedy step-by-step to assistance you get started: 

1. Navigate to the Performance Report: It’s 1 of the archetypal things you spot connected your Google Search Console Dashboard. Click connected Full Report to spot the large representation presumption of however your website is doing successful Google search.
2. Explore Key Metrics: From here, you privation to cheque things similar clicks (how galore times radical click connected your tract successful hunt results), impressions (how often your tract appears successful hunt results), click-through complaint (how galore radical who click connected your tract erstwhile they spot it), and mean presumption (where your tract ranks successful the hunt results page).
3. Analyze Queries Data: You tin excavation deeper into these numbers by clicking connected the Queries section to spot if the keywords you’re targeting are what your pages are showing up for. If you spot that you’re getting tons of impressions and clicks for your targeted keywords, you cognize you’re connected the close track. If there’s a immense quality betwixt impressions and clicks, past you mightiness request to revisit your contented and off-page strategy, oregon possibly amended your rubric tag and meta statement to amended CTR. You tin besides cheque for related keywords you’re showing up for, for much ideas connected what your website tin people and fertile for. 
4. Utilize Filters: You tin besides usage the galore filters successful Google Search Console to constrictive down your information by date, device, and location. This helps you spot trends and fig retired what needs improvement.
5. Check Page Performance: Don’t hide to look astatine the Pages section to look astatine however each of your web pages is performing successful hunt results. It volition springiness you insights into which pages are doing large and which ones request immoderate work. If you see major dips successful performance, I person a usher connected how to reclaim your rankings you tin follow. 
6. Issues successful the Page Indexing Report: Lastly, click connected the Pages, under the Indexing conception connected the left-side menu. This study volition amusement you immoderate indexing issues oregon errors connected your site. This is thing you’ll privation to cheque regularly truthful you cognize which pages aren’t presently being served successful the hunt results — which whitethorn request a fewer much tweaks to beryllium considered for indexing by Google.

Key Takeaway

If you’re starting your SEO journey, uncovering a mode to cheque keyword rankings for escaped is simply a must. Luckily, Google does supply the basal tools you request to stitchery information for your website. For hunt results data, Google Search Console is that tool.

Follow this guide, and you’ll recognize the basics of keyword tracking and optimization you request to unlock captious show data, refine pages, and boost hunt visibility for your website.